In 2020, like most people I was in the middle of a difficult situation, but unrelated to Covid. Many in my same situation have said it is a long hard journey to embark on and that hope can take a long time to show up. I had made a goal earlier that year that I was going to overcome my attachment wounds, which were wreaking havoc in my personal life. I started therapy in May 2020. After four months of counseling, I felt as though I was swimming in deep waters without a life jacket or the skills to swim to shore and I was working with a therapist. So why I thought, do I feel so bad? After staying with that therapist for another month God finally told me I needed to get out of the relationship and just go with Him as my therapist. So, I did. I walked away, with more wounds than I started with. During this period, I made the choice to make God my therapist. I went where I felt that he was leading, and for a while I felt like they were all dead ends but oddly I felt safer. During this time, I learned that I could trust God with my mental health and tried whatever he led me to do.
I also learned that I had become too dependent on others and needed to learn to hold onto myself in the midst of difficulties. So, I asked God in prayer to lead me to a therapist that could help me hold onto myself better. I had a thought to look for a therapist in a certain town that charged $80. I looked for someone like that and to my surprise found one. Within a month I started therapy and got right to work. This therapist introduced me to a therapeutic model I would later learn was called IFS or Internal Family Systems. Within just a few weeks I was feeling different, better. I had moments of clarity and peace like none other. These moments came more and more often as we continued to work together. About five months of working with this counselor, I had been in therapy for a total of 13 months and decided to find an IFS therapist that was covered by my insurance. I also felt that I had reached a point of needing an officially trained IFS therapist as he did not have training through the IFS Institute. It was six months after I first started IFS therapy that I found an IFS therapist trained and certified level three by the IFS institute. After finding the amazing progress that I have been able to make since I started using a trained IFS therapist, I made it my mission to be trained and certified by the IFS Institute and to offer this amazing healing modality to those who are seeking help and healing.
Within a month of putting my name on the lottery to be drawn for several trainings coming up, my name was drawn and the invitation to apply to the official training was extended. Within several weeks I was accepted and I have not looked back! I believe that being an IFS practitioner is one of my life missions. Nearly four years ago, I wrote a life purpose statement that included these words, “I am an earth angel, sent by God to help him heal his children. I love living in my bubble of love and peace where I am fully plugged into Jesus Christ. I love to invite people in so they can experience Him with me.” At the time I wrote this statement I had not a clue that my journey would lead me to this amazing model of healing today.
IFS has, no doubt about it, paved the way for me to live in my bubble of peace and love more and more. My complex PTSD symptoms are 90% gone, anxiety and depression as well, sugar cravings are minimal, severe hypoglycemia is a thing of the past, nightmares gone, a lifetime of carrying shame from child abuse…gone, the peace of mind and body that is our birthright is mine. Living more from a Self-led place I really do feel like I live in a bubble and that Christ is with me much of the time and that I get to share Him with anyone who comes into my space. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love sharing Jesus, both his love and message!
